Being a mom in show business is no easier or harder for me than it is for a million other working moms. I definitely struggle to balance career and home like every other mother does. When it comes to my ten-year-old son Willie, the most important part is just trying to be present when I’m here with him. I don’t have a magic formula; I basically just try to explain a lot of things to him and make sure the lines of communication are wide open.
The challenge for a performer is that your entire body is the tool for your work. As a singer, you’re always balancing not wanting to talk or laugh or yell since you need to protect your voice. As a dancer, you’re trying to protect your body. You can’t be doing things you otherwise would be doing, including certain things you want to do as a mom like rumbling with your kid, because you have to keep your body together for a show.
So it’s a matter of balancing the enormous time and energy commitment that must be put into a role with the enormous time and energy commitment that goes into motherhood. There’s a lot of driving back and forth to get home for bedtime, and I always like to be the one to get Willie to school in the morning. If I’m at the theatre, I’ll call him from the dressing room and we’ll do his nighttime prayers over the phone. I know he’s not going to care in another few years if I’m there to take him or pick up him for school, but thank goodness right now he does!
And it didn’t get easier when I left Stratford a few years ago. When I was co-producing a CBC movie last year, Willie often said, “Mom, you’re way busier than you were at the theatre.” In some ways the time constraints are less demanding because I am not working a 10-month gig like I did at the Stratford Festival. Self-employed people just don’t ever have a routine – it literally changes from week to week.
Fortunately, Willie is pretty adaptable. A lot of his friends’ parents have demanding jobs, so he knows the drill. And it gets a bit easier as he grows older because I’m better able to explain why and what it is I’m doing. At the end of the day, he knows that my absolute priority is him. Even though it may at times be hard to juggle everything, it’s when I really feel like I’m sharing with Willie that I’m most happy.
Former Stratford Festival leading lady Cynthia Dale is set to star in Love, Loss, and What I Wore, the hit stage show by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron (You’ve Got Mail, Nora’s When Harry Met Sally, Julie & Julia). Cynthia can be seen onstage from August 10-September 4 at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre.
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